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I have a little problem. I'm addicted to cookbooks, food writing, recipe collecting, and cooking. I have a lot of recipes waiting for me to try them, and ideas from articles, tv, and restaurants often lead to new dishes. I started losing track of what I've done. So now I'm taking photos and writing about what I've prepared—unless it's terrible in which case I forget it ever happened.

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Friday, October 2, 2009

I kind of like ingredient-hunting through recipes. It’s become a fun, new hobby of mine when I have an ingredient and can’t decide how to use it. I start looking through the indexes of cookbooks, searching for whatever the ingredient of the day is, in hopes of finding some interesting dish in which it’s used. When I decided to make Thai style crab cakes the other day, I used some Thai basil from the farmers’ market. After making the crab cakes, there was still a lot remaining of the very generous bunch I had received. So, off on my ingredient-hunt I went. My first stop was the index of Local Flavors, and under Thai Basil, it reads 'see basil.' And, under basil, I found this dish, and the hunt was over in record time. In creating this dish, Deborah Madison was inspired by the flavor of Thai basil, rather than Italian basil, with corn and zucchini, and then decided to add coconut milk and tofu. I think that she had a fantastic idea.

Cubed tofu was dried and then browned in a skillet with zucchini chunks. Fresh corn was cut from four ears, and the corn milk was pressed from the cobs with the back of a knife. All of that was added to the skillet along with chopped green onions, some Thai chiles, and chopped cilantro and Thai basil leaves. Coconut milk was added, and it simmered for just a few minutes, and dinner was ready. This simple stew was served with white, long-grain rice.

Everything about the dish was very fresh-tasting, and even though it was all about the Thai basil for me, I wouldn’t skip this if you don’t have any on hand. You could go with all cilantro or even try it with Italian basil. Corn, zucchini, tofu, and coconut milk are all a little mild in the flavor department, but they go together very well. In fact, there was something very comfort food-like about that combination. It’s the green onion, chiles, and herbs that livened things up and gave the dish great character. All together, it was a dish that seemed like an old friend even though this was the first time we’d experienced it.

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comments:

I know what you mean when you say this dish is like an old friend even though it's a new experiment. I never thought of putting corn in a Thai curry, but I can see now how that would work very well. This looks fantastic! You've done a great job combining comfort with healthy.

Do you know how incredibly appealing and crave-inducing this looks? The weather has turned here in MN, damp and chilly; soup is always a standby but this is the edible version of a full-body Snuggie! The best part is that the corn and zucchini would still remind me of summer . . .

I've been scarce but only because I'm terrible with time mgt! With all sincerity, your blog is an absolute inspiration to me!

This looks wonderful! Perfect timing too... I was just trying to figure out what all the Thai basil from my garden, seeing as I'll need to harvest it all before the frost comes. Guess I know what's for dinner tonight. :)

a brand new dish behaving like an old friend, eh? sounds ideal. the notion of anything simmered in coconut milk excites me, and this is a great way to incorporate some awesome flavor into tofu. great dish, lisa!

Lisa, First thanks for stopping by and leaving a very valuable comment on my blog today...can I have your permission to post it along with the others? Secondly, you must be psychic with little ol me cuz I'm nuts about anything Thai....if you need further blogs/sites, scroll down to the bottom of my blog that is dedicated to Thai blogs. This looks fairly easy, which is what I like in Thai cooking! So it will be a printed out recipe for sure! Having been to Thailand twice, I am addicted to this stuff!

Lastly, you have a new follower! Your photos are wonderful too!Bye for now and for leading me to your blog, Roz ...aka bella, but call me Roz, please.

Hehe you've described me to a tee too! I often have leftover bits when I buy things for recipes and I love the challenge of finding a way to use them :) This soup sounds divine, I love the distinct flavour of Thai Basil! :)